April 2010

April 30, 2010

(Photo of TV/MASN by Nationals Enquirer staff. This Nationals fan couldn't believe his luck at Land SharkSun Light? Sun Bank Life Stadium in Miami Friday night when the Marlins Mermaids passed by his seat before the top of the sixth inning. Just look at that grin! Forget bus trips from Philly, Stan, that's how it's done!)

...about making the opposing team's fans feel welcome on the road.

And moments later:

"Nationals fan enjoying himself on the road here on a Friday night."(Bob Carpenter, via MASN, 4/30/2010)

...the back-end of the bullpen was in shambles: Joel Hanrahan had already flamed out by this point, replaced by a Closer by Committee of Kip Wells and Julian Tavarez (gack!)

...The Nationals started the day with a 5-15 record. They ended the day with a 5-16 record after a loss to St. Louis which featured a 5-run, 9th inning meltdown by Mr. Tavarez, who inherited a 4-4 game.

The point of all this is not to dredge up negativity for negativity's sake, but to give thanks for April 30, 2010. What a difference a year makes. Required reading: head over to Capitol Punishment this morning, and give thanks for Clip-n-Save. Don't know if it'll hold up over the long haul, but we'll take it. The view is pretty nice from up here:

The formula helps determine whether consumers have positive, negative or neutral reactions to brands in their online messages. Neilsen's "Sentiment Rankings" range from 5 to minus-5. No team finished with a negative number. But six teams finished with a number lower than 2.(via ESPN.com, 4/28/2010)

Anyway, since the good vibes have been flowing freely around NatsTown recently, we thought we'd point out that YOUR Washington Nationals scored a 1.9 on the scale, good for sixth place behind the Yankees, Astros, Reds, Red Sox, and most despised: Indians. The O's ranked 8th. Surprisingly enough, the Phillies did not rank in the top 10.

April 28, 2010

(AP Photo via Daylife. The Montreal Candiens raised a banner in honor of the Expos in 2005 following their departure from Montreal. Youppi! (far left) -- abandoned by the Expos and saved from a life on the streets of Monreal by the Canadiens.)

"If we lose a ballgame, they're irritated. They're not happy. They don't just say: 'OK, we'll get 'em tomorrow.' It's not like that. They don't just brush it off. They get irritated by it, and I like the fact they get irritated about losing, ballgames." (Jim Riggleman, via Nats Insider, 4/28/2010)

"We want him to experience pitching in September, so we have a cap on the innings. He will have maybe 50 of those innings in the minor leagues, and he will have another 100 to give us. … We're not going to ride him too hard, but we do want him to experience that spring training through September cycle."(Jim Riggleman, via Chicago Tribune, 4/27/2010)

(Video above: Stephen Strasburg made his home debut for Harrisburg on Friday, April 16 after delays caused by rain and a power outage.)

"I feel like we're going to be right there where we need to be when it's time to be there. Strasburg, Storen, those guys, if we're playing well and we got a chance to be there, those guys are coming."(Willie Harris, via Washington POst, 4/26/2010)

But will Strasburg's Harrisburg teammates miss him when he's gone? According to a story on PennLive.com at least some of them raised a stink after the home debut in Harrisburg by Baseball Jesus was delayed by rain and a power failure for 2.5+ hours, and finally called after another hour-long rain delay in the third inning:

Players, particularly pitchers (but not Strasburg), huffed and puffed during the two delays — 2:36 before the game and 1:05 during the third inning. The frustration was understandable...(via PennLive, 4/24/2010)

Then again, can you really blame the Senators (brass, not players, we mean) for doing everything in their power to get that game in last Friday? Mess with Strasburg's schedule, and you potentially lose out on another home start for The 'Burg in The 'Burg, and you're talking money, folks. Lots and lots of money.

(Photo of TV/NBC4 by Nationals Enquirer staff. MASN's Rob Dibble wasn't the only one cheering on the Nationals in the MASN booth on Sunday.)

Given the schedule so far, we would've been happy with 6-13. Guess that's what two straight 100-loss seasons will do to you.

When both Chris Needham and Thomas Boswell invoke 2005 -- in a good way -- on the same day, you know something special must be happening on the banks of the Anacostia...

Just who are these Rigglemen? And why does it feel so strange to check the standings 19 games into the season and not see the Nationals firmly entrenched in last place with a sub-.500 record? Savor this.